Katie Samek-

Gustavus staff from across campus came together this week and shared their work experiences at the Student Employee Supervisor Committee, which took place on Tuesday, Nov. 14th from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Konferensrum. These meetings are targeted at core staff on campus who supervise students, which includes staff members from Dining Services, the Gustavian Weekly, the library, student tutors, the Writing Center, athletic assistants, and several other areas.

Supervisor Committee meetings are held six times a year, with three meetings in the fall and three in the spring. This week’s meeting was the second such meeting held this fall. The primary function of these sessions is employee training, providing a collaborative space for staff to learn more about the college and how to better help and serve their student peers. These meetings also provide a space for colleagues to share problems that they are facing and bounce ideas off of each other, building connections between departments that otherwise don’t have a chance to connect on a daily basis and sharing advice on how to best help their student employees.

These meetings also serve as a means for staff to learn what resources are available on campus for both them and their students. From Career Services to the Wellness Center to the Academic Support Office and even the Dean’s Office, Supervisor Committee sessions are an excellent way for staff to connect with resources across campus and build working relationships with their peers, as well as learn what function they serve on campus and what they can do for both staff and students who may require some extra help in those areas of their life. Staff attendance at these meetings generally ranges from 25 to 30 members per meeting during a typical year.

While the benefit of holding such meetings for students may not be clear at first glance, these meetings are a prime example of the benefit of connecting with your peers and listening to feedback from the community.

“You can have a great student employee, but if they’ve been assigned a bad supervisor who hasn’t been trained properly, it won’t go well for either of them,” said Erin Kuiper, who is the Student Employment and Vocation Program Manager at Gustavus. “Sometimes, staff members don’t know how to help a student with a particular problem, and that can cause frustration both for the student, who isn’t receiving the help they need, as well as the staff member, who feels disconnected from their student peer as a result. The goal of these trainings is to provide staff members with the resources they need to uplift their students and, hopefully, provide them with the help they need to excel at their jobs on campus, regardless of where they work.”

For students seeking opportunities to better their work experience on campus, the college is hosting two sessions of Student Employment Experience. The first of these sessions will be held on Friday, Nov. 17th from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Heritage Hall, while the second session will be held on Monday, Nov. 20th from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Center for Inclusive Excellence.

Both of these sessions count as paid work experience for purposes of student employment, and free snacks will be provided. This opportunity is open for all student employees on campus, regardless of where on campus you work. Be it in Dining Services, the Writing Center, the Library, the Gustavian Weekly, the Costume Shop, or any other area of student employment, all student employees are welcome to attend, and everyone will receive full pay for their time.

This month’s meetings have three core topics that will be discussed. The first of these is “Wellbeing in the Workplace”, which will cover methods to help students manage their physical, mental, and emotional health amidst the bustle of classes, campus activities, and student employment. The second topic, “Identifying & Addressing Microaggressions”, covers what defines microaggressions and the best ways to help students handle such issues in the workplace. The third and final topic, “How does the energy you bring impact your work environment?”, explores the impact that emotions have on the workplace, both good and bad, as well as how to help students bring the right kind of energy to student employment.

This is the first year that Student Employment Experiences are being offered on campus, and the student turnout so far has ranged from 25 attendees at the lowest, and over 85 attendees at the highest. Such sessions involve team-building exercises, discussion forums for students to share their work experiences, and several opportunities to connect with peers from around campus.

“It’s quite the range of engagement, but it’s really awesome to see that students are enthusiastic about these work opportunities,” said Kuiper. “Last session we had a team-building activity that involved groups of students building things out of marshmallows that seemed to go over really well. People got very competitive, and I believe that they learned a great deal from it.”